The New England Association of Chiefs of Police named the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s Department of Public Safety New England’s “Best Small Community Police Force of 2013.”

The association’s chairman, Theodore Smith, the chief of police in Lincoln, N.H., presented the department with the award Monday morning.

UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Divina Grossman said it was the first time a university police department has been named the award’s recipient. It is the third time the award has been given.

“The Department of Public Safety has demonstrated what a world-class university police force looks like,” Grossman said. “My fellow presidents and chancellors have all complimented our police force.”

She further noted compliments university police received in collaborating with FBI investigators in the days and weeks after the Boston Marathon bombings and then last week from the Secret Service when Vice President Joe Biden visited the campus to stump for U.S. Rep. Edward Markey’s bid for the Senate.

UMass Dartmouth Provost and Chief Operating Officer Deb McLaughlin said the university’s police force is committed to “stopping problems before they start” and focused on the university community.

“Real policing is all about communication and prevention,” McLaughlin said, noting that the university’s police force is consistently “aware of what’s happening on campus.

"We’re pleased but not surprised," McLaughlin said.

Members of the department were originally informed of the NEACP award in April, before the Boston Marathon bombings had occurred, and before the campus evacuation and investigation that had followed.

“I am grateful for this award, which recognizes our commitment to being a proactive police department," said Col. Emil Fioravanti, the chief of public safety at the university.

“This could not have been possible without the dedication of a lot of men and women,” he said before recognizing several of the department’s police officers, including Officers Justin Silva, Steve Mello, Mark Andrade, Lisa Cabral and dispatcher Chakira Gonsalves.

Fioravanti called Gonsalves a “go-to person” for UMass Police, and that she is “unflappable,” despite working “a high-demand, high-stress job.”

Fioravanti noted it was Gonsalves who first linked bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to UMass Dartmouth.

“Her efforts have contributed to the safety of the community and of our officers. She earned rock star status during the morning of April 19th,” Fioravanti said.

Gonsalves didn’t discloses exactly how she was able to link Tsarnaev to UMass, except to say that she did so by “cross-referencing his name through three systems.”

She said she has been a dispatcher at the university for almost 10 years. She typically works the overnight shift from midnight to 8 a.m.